A new virtual gallery, art market & auction house for Australasia

Ocula co-founders Simon Fisher & Christopher Taylor

It's the art world, but not as we know it. The rise of the internet as a central place to research, buy and sell art continues with the launch this week of Ocula, a new online portal that offers collectors the chance to indulge in what is effectively an online art fair operating around the clock and 365 days a year.

Ocula co-founders Simon Fisher & Christopher Taylor (pictured) believe the site will act as a one-stop-shop for anyone interested in buying, selling or exploring contemporary and modern visual art.  Certainly, the list of founding partner galleries will assure users of the quality of the offerings on Ocula, with names such as Anna Schwartz Gallery, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Tolarno Galleries, Sutton Galleries and Michael Lett.

Don't miss the virtual galleries in the online auction area of Ocula. Created using world-leading 3D modelling technology this feature allows viewers to experience artworks as is they appeared in an actual gallery space.

First. One. Thing. Then. Another

Jess MacNeil First. One. Thing. Then. Another

London-based Australian artist Jess MacNeil commented on this work, in which she has painted directly onto orange acrylic sheets: "the images and objects.. trace and respond to nuanced shifts in time and space: the sliding of the gaze over the landscape, individuals transitioning through public space and the trails left by the artist's own body via the motion of the camera and the gestures of the brush". The painting was sourced by [art]iculate for a commercial office space in Sydney.

New work by Emily Floyd

Emily Floyd 'An Open Space'. Copyright the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery

Melbourne-based contemporary artist Emily Floyd will unveil an exhibition of new work entitled 'An Open Space' at Anna Schwartz Gallery, and running from 28 April until 28 May. 


Whilst much of Floyd's practice is concerned with text and the written word, she is also known for her large-scale public art installations such as the giant bird & worm sculpture on Victoria's Eastlink freeway commission. Both elements are fused in this new exhibition in Melbourne.  The artist chatted with Melbourne's Broadsheet about her practice earlier this year, which can be read here.

Behind the scenes at the museum

Sydney-based contemporary artist Silke Raetze is the first artist to have had works shown as part of an exhibition at the Australian Museum as the result of a three-month artist in residency, spent delving into their extensive collections of exotic Birds of Paradise specimens.  Silke will discuss her practice and the works in the exhibition at the Australian Museum as part of their Jurassic Lounge late night openings on Tuesday 12th April. This series of work will also be exhibited in a solo exhibition at Michael Reid at Elizabeth Bay from 2 August until 3 September 2011.

Potts Point Art windows project

The windows of leading retailers on Macleay Street in Sydney's Potts Point have come alive for the month of March thanks to a return of the Art Windows Project, part of Art Month Sydney 2011.

The above image shows an installation of work by contemporary artist Tracy Luff in the windows of Becker Minty Woman. The works are structural creations made from cardboard and look truly amazing in the space.

Other featured artists include Troy Emery at Arida (see his wonderful pom-pom covered creature below), Pam Aitken at Richardson & Wrench and Justin Trendall at Tusculum. Guided tours of the windows project will be offered on the evening of Thursday 18th March as part of the late night openings for Art Month in the Potts Point arts precinct.

Artist Speed Dating returns

Following on from the success of the inaugural Art Month Sydney Speed Dating program in 2010, the event returns in March 2011 giving a fresh batch of young artists the chance to pitch their work to some of the country's leading gallery owners. The winner of the inaugural Speed Dating event in March 2010, artist David Capra, will present a solo exhibition of mixed media works (pictured below) at Gallery II in the Danks Street Arts Precinct from 21 until 27 March 2011. 

Antony Gormley presents complete series of MEMES sculptures

Renowned international sculptor Antony Gormley will present his complete MEMES series of 33 small-scale cast iron sculptures, together for the first time, in a new exhibition at Anna Schwartz Gallery running from 17 March until 23 April 2011.

Presented at Anna Schwartz Gallery's Melbourne premises, MEMES continues Gormley's exploration of scale - in this instance focusing on the miniature with no sculpture measuring longer than 38cm in any dimension. The 33 individual sculptures each articulate a different posture or position of the human body. MEMES represents five years of work on the series, with the first MEME created in 2007.